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Roma (AFP) – Juventus Turin won Saturday against Udinese (1-0) their eighth consecutive victory without taking a goal, temporarily taking second place in Serie A four points from Naples, leader that the Bianconeri will challenge next Friday.
In a meeting preceded by a moving tribute to the ex-Bianconero Gianluca Vialli, swept away by pancreatic cancer, the Turinese knew how to be patient, like Wednesday against Cremonese (1-0): the deliverance came in the 86th minute , thanks to Captain Danilo at the conclusion of a nice combination between Leandro Paredes and Federico Chiesa.
With this eighth success in a row, still without taking a goal, Juve settles at least for 24 hours in second place with a point ahead of AC Milan (3rd), which hosts AS Roma on Sunday evening (6th), and three on Inter Milan (4th), who dropped two points in added time at Monza (2-2), during the 17th day of Serie A.
The Turinese, left behind at the start of the season, have mainly returned to just four points from Naples, who will try to react on Sunday in Genoa against Sampdoria after conceding their first defeat of the season in the league on Wednesday.
And this before the direct duel between Neapolitans and Turinese next Friday: “It will be a good match, but let’s take one step at a time. Naples is still a clear favorite for the scudetto”, assured DAZN the bianconero coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“We must continue to work in silence because we started late,” he added, ensuring that the objective remained a place among the top four, synonymous with the Champions League.
“Ciao Captain”
The victory against Udinese was preceded by a moving tribute to Gianluca Vialli. His ex-teammate Gianluca Pessotto notably took the floor to salute his “class” and his “tenacity”, before concluding to the applause of the Juventus Stadium filled with banners and jerseys in memory of Vialli: “Ciao captain, make a have a nice trip”.
“After this victory, our first thought goes to Gianluca Vialli”, confirmed Chiesa, decisive man of the meeting thanks to his decisive pass after a nice control in the box.
In the evening, Inter did not keep pace with Juve, conceding a draw in the dying moments at Monza three days after being the first Italian team to bring down Napoli this season (1-0).
The Nerazzurri were trapped by a header from Monza defender Luca Caldirola (90 + 3rd), deflected in passing by Denzel Dumfries. Caldirola thus made up for the big mistake of his central defense colleague, Pablo Mari, who had allowed Lautaro Martinez to restore the advantage to Inter in the first period (22nd).
At the start of the match, Monza had already shown their strength of character by immediately equalizing on a nice cross shot from Patrick Ciurria (11th) after the express opener of the Inter players, signed Matteo Darmian (10th).
Inter Milan may regret not having been able to make the break, despite the entry into play of Romelu Lukaku in the second half and a shot on the post of the Argentine world champion Martinez, sharpened for his first tenure since Qatar.
© 2023 AFP